Toy Box – A homemade gift DIY project

Hello and welcome back! It’s December 10th and that means it’s my turn to share my 13 Days of Woodworking project!! The minute I decided to join in this little project, I immediately had the idea to build my nieces a toy box. I called up my sister and she said “yes, please”! I love the idea of making them something, especially since they live so far away and I don’t get to see them much. I knew my nieces needed a bright, fun and crazy box to match their bright, fun and crazy personalities. Make sure to keep reading to find out how to enter our 13 Days of Woodworking prize pack!

When I was pregnant with my daughter, almost exactly 10 years ago, I found an old toy box at a children’s consignment sale. I remember being so excited about her arrival and was nesting pretty hard and I painted the box for her pink and black room.

It’s actually looking a little rough, but she still uses it as her sock drawer – she loves funky socks. It’s got a corner that one of the pups chewed off and some of the paint is chipping off, but I love that she is still using it. Now that I have a little more experience building, I wanted to build this one myself.

I didn’t design this toy box myself though. I was working through how I was going to build it and came across THIS one by my friend Jamie over at That’s My Letter. I thought it was perfect – sturdy, perfect size and adorable. So, I decided I would build this one instead of designing my own.

I’m going to send you over to Jamie for the full tutorial, but here’s a quick rundown.

I only changed a couple of things. I started by cutting the boards all up and assembling the side pieces.

And got them all connected up.

I decided I want to add some fun little feet to the bottom, so I cut the 2×2 pieces to end evenly with the bottom. My friends over at Osborne Wood Products sent me THESE cute little ball feet, which I thought would go perfectly with the polka dots.

Once I got it all built and sanded down, it was time to get to painting. I used my new Paint Wiz paint sprayer to prime the box and it worked great!

It was super easy to put together and the paint went on really evenly. I so impressed by how fast and easy it was.

Wanna know how you can win one? Over on Instagram repin this toybox image from my feed and use the hashtag #13daysofwoodworking so we can find you! And, if you want an extra entry, add the hashtag #christmasbox . The prize pack also includes RYOBI’s new brushless driver. I don’t’ have one yet, but I hear it’s amazing!

After I had it all primed, I designed the names on my Silhouette machine and cut it out in vinyl.

The Silhouette machine was also great at cutting out a bunch of circles and using those vinyl circles to paint the box.

I used painters tape to stripe the underside of the top. I basically just layered the paint, adding the vinyl cut outs after each layer of paint. Once I had layered it all, I pulled off all the vinyl, revealing the paint underneath.

Then, after doing some touching up, I added a few coats of Polycrylic and hinges. I used the hinges that Jamie recommended for hers. They were a bit pricey, but are great for keeping that lid from slamming little fingers.

And that’s it! A fun, bold and totally girly toy box fit for two little divas!

Let me know if you have any questions! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

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